Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 35 | Page 67

/////////////////////////////////////////////////// t cht lk THE CHANGING IMPORTANCE OF SOFTWARE ASSET MANAGEMENT According to reports, the global software asset management (SAM) market is expected to reach US$3.92 billion by 2026. And thanks, at least in part, to the growing adoption of cloud solutions in South Africa, local companies are starting to see the value for SAM as well. Nicole Oliveira, Software Services Business Unit Lead at Altron Karabina, looks into this in more detail. E ven though businesses here are lagging behind their peers in more developed markets, they are slowly getting to the point where they see SAM as critical to success in a connected environment. Traditionally, many have approached SAM on an ad hoc basis. delivering value to the organisation in terms of optimisation. Furthermore, SAM enables decision-makers to gain a clearer understanding of the solutions they have at their disposal, and how best to digitise those going forward when it comes time to do budget planning. There has been little by way of integrating it as an ongoing managed service. However, while doing a point-in-time SAM approach might be a quick fix initially, it can quickly spiral out of control six months down the line when the business is stuck in a similar position if no controls are in place. Instead, SAM must be viewed as something other than a compliance exercise. It is about The business imperative of SAM www.intelligentcio.com SAM is critically important to help organisations reduce spend on software, operations, and support. Yet, many decision-makers are reluctant to embrace these tools. But if a company is to evolve into a cloud-centric entity that will meet the digital requirements of doing business “ ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS IN NOT GOING THE SAM ROUTE IS THAT EVENTUALLY SOFTWARE WILL REACH THEIR END OF SUPPORT STAGE. INTELLIGENTCIO 67